The hake also and the gilthead hide; and we infer that the
hake hides over a lengthened period from the fact that it is only
caught at long intervals. We are led also to infer that fishes hide in
summer from the circumstance that the takes of certain fish are made
between the rise and setting of certain constellations: of the
Dog-star in particular, the sea at this period being upturned from the
lower depths. This phenomenon may be observed to best advantage in the
Bosporus; for the mud is there brought up to the surface and the
fish are brought up along with it. They say also that very often, when
the sea-bottom is dredged, more fish will be caught by the second haul
than by the first one. Furthermore, after very heavy rains numerous
specimens become visible of creatures that at other times are never
seen at all or seen only at intervals.
16
A great number of birds also go into hiding; they do not all
migrate, as is generally supposed, to warmer countries. Thus,
certain birds (as the kite and the swallow) when they are not far
off from places of this kind, in which they have their permanent
abode, betake themselves thither; others, that are at a distance
from such places, decline the trouble of migration and simply hide
themselves where they are.
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